“These Are My Kids, and I Know the Risk": Critically Race-Conscious Leaders on the Frontlines of Racial Justice and Equity in Education

• In Event: Teacher and School Leaders Building Culture, Belonging, and Inclusion for Students

Abstract

This study explored the work of critically race-conscious on the front lines of
understanding, addressing, and confronting issues of race, racism, and institutionalized systems
of power within their school context. Using personal narratives and critical racial reflections as a
qualitative research methodology, this research bears witness to four Black principals using the
race card to cultivate spaces filled with love, joy, and genius through high expectations and
community.

Author

• Yaribel Mercedes, Teachers College, Columbia University